Thunder raid - gated?

[Libertarian]

Any word if the new raid is going to be gated in normal/heroic? I assume it will be in LFR.

[Crawdaddy]

well if it is in lfr then im sure normal to

[Moshots]

well if it is in lfr then im sure normal to

not really. The last 3 raids have been gated in LFR mode release but not normal. then first half LFR then 2nd half LFR. considering its one place and its supposed to be like a new ulduar I don't expect any gating on normal/heroic.

[NatePsy]

Very likely to be gated for LFR. Normal and Heroic? Not so sure.

[Deleted]

Big chance it will be like when ICC came out.

[Aqua]

LFR with absolute certainty.

Normal and Heroic... hard to say, I don't know if the reception they had when ICC was gated was positive or negative... or spoonfuls of both
To me it was positive only because of my own situation at the time (which was transferring guilds/factions) so I was in limbo for a few weeks while that was going on.

Guess we'll find out.

[Raxxed]

I STRONGLY hope they don't.
But they will.

[Scorp969]

lfr will be 3bosses run/4gates total 12bosses
normal dont know most likely when you kill boss another part will open so clearable 1st week

[Count Zero]

Kinda hope it is gated, so people whine less about the content being "over" in two/three weeks when the world first guilds clear it.

But then I guess they'll whine about it being gated. Blizz can't win.

[Meleti]

Normal modes were gated in tier 14. They were just gated by instance instead of "wing."

5.2, who knows but I wouldn't be surprised if Blizzard extends the tier by gating in 2-3 wings.

[Thehealbus]

I really hope they gate it, 13 bosses is a huge amount to not gate, I'm thinking they will release them in wings, or maybe all the normals the first week, then heroics by wings every week after that.

[Mormolyce]

Gated how exactly? Most large raid complexes have semi-"gated" wings. Like in ICC where the first four bosses were in a linear progression, and then you open up three wings each of which had an overall wing boss you had to beat all the others to kill.

Ulduar had something similar although the boss order was a bit more flexible and you could skip Ignis and Razorscale. Apart from those two you still had to kill everything to get to Yogg and Algalon though.

I imagine Thunder King will be similar.

[Snorri]

I hope and expect it to be gated. Otherwise the best guilds will clear it the first week and already start with the heroic modes next week. Blizzard want content to last and not be blitzed. This raid tier is meant to keep ups occupied until patch 5.4, where 5.3 will only be a filler patch to continue the story and add a few things but not a new raid tier.

[Raxxed]

I hope and expect it to be gated. Otherwise the best guilds will clear it the first week and already start with the heroic modes next week. Blizzard want content to last and not be blitzed. This raid tier is meant to keep ups occupied until patch 5.4, where 5.3 will only be a filler patch to continue the story and add a few things but not a new raid tier.

How does what we do effect you in any way?
It doesn't.
Just because we can clear it 3x in a week with alts doesn't mean shit. It's our choice.
The world's not going to end just because we put in more effort and time than others.

[Summer]

In t14 I was happy about the gating since there was so much to do anyways, running dungeons, leveling profs and ofc all those lovely dailies.

Now I rather hope they don't; we're all geared up and raring to go, if first week can only get to 4 bosses or something it'll be a bummer. And what of HM's? Could you only start them after clearing the whole thing on normal much later? :S

[Count Zero]

Gated how exactly? Most large raid complexes have semi-"gated" wings. Like in ICC where the first four bosses were in a linear progression, and then you open up three wings each of which had an overall wing boss you had to beat all the others to kill.

Ulduar had something similar although the boss order was a bit more flexible and you could skip Ignis and Razorscale. Apart from those two you still had to kill everything to get to Yogg and Algalon though.

I imagine Thunder King will be similar.

Well, in ICC you couldn't get to the Lich King for quite some time due to the wings not all being immediately open. I think that's what the OP is referring to. Like if all the 5.0 raids were wings of the same instance.

I'll be a bit surprised if it's not gated. But I could see it going either way.

---------- Post added 2013-01-23 at 06:34 AM ----------

In t14 I was happy about the gating since there was so much to do anyways, running dungeons, leveling profs and ofc all those lovely dailies.

Now I rather hope they don't; we're all geared up and raring to go, if first week can only get to 4 bosses or something it'll be a bummer. And what of HM's? Could you only start them after clearing the whole thing on normal much later? :S

Well, regarding heroic modes -- that's why I kinda would prefer there to be gating. More time before the final boss is available means smoothing out of rng regarding loot drops. I realize ultra-serious progression guilds use multiple alts and whatnot to funnel gear, but rng is still rng -- and gating would only mean a small smoothing out of rng ... but for the world-first race, I want it to be more about who has the best skill on as-equal a playing field as we can get.

With no gating, a guild that perhaps is not quite as good but got lucky on drops (trinkets, weapons, and set bonuses in particular) might edge out a slightly-better guild that got shit luck on those crucial drops. Skillcaps only go so high ... at a certain point gear does matter.

[Soulstrike]

since its 1 instance and heroic mode wont be available until you kill lee shen i hope its not gated........

as for lfr yes it will be gated

something like....

week1: normal mode open
week2: heroic and 1st and 2nd part of lfr opens
week3: 3rd part of lfr opens

How does what we do effect you in any way?
It doesn't.
Just because we can clear it 3x in a week with alts doesn't mean shit. It's our choice.
The world's not going to end just because we put in more effort and time than others.

pretty much what this guy(pony) said. it was fine for t14 to be gated (tes one was bit of overkill though) since it was start of expansion but t15 when everyone is prepared to go full out on bosses id say why not let hardcore ppl clear and see what ra den fight looks like

[reflection]

I love the gating in the beginning, but I'm not in a super hardcore progress kind of guild. It's because it just takes the stress out of the progression.

[Deleted]

How does what we do effect you in any way?
It doesn't.
Just because we can clear it 3x in a week with alts doesn't mean shit. It's our choice.
The world's not going to end just because we put in more effort and time than others.

I think what he was getting at was that when people start clearing it too quick they tend to whine that there is too little content, when the majority of the playerbase has ample.

Thanks for that narcissistic last line though

Just to add my input, I couldn't care less if its gated or not. I doubt most guilds will power through it like Firelands and be on heroics in the 2nd week, or at least I hope not. If the people that do clear it in the 1st week and end up clearing heroic content waaay before 5.4 want to whine then that's their choice.

[Ryme]

Hope it's ungated, creates the better server competition and feels much more... I'm searching for the right word, I want to say honest?